Abstract A101: Barriers to cancer care access in Puerto Rico: Exploring clinical and sociodemographic disparities

Abstract INTRODUCTION: In 2020, Puerto Rico (PR) reported 14,168 new cancer cases and 5,354 cancer-related deaths. Timely access to diagnosis and treatment are crucial for enhancing survival and quality of life among cancer patients. Our study aimed to identify barriers to accessing cancer treatment and explore their association with patients selected clinical and sociodemographic characteristics. METHODS: In this ongoing cross-sectional study, cancer patients aged 21+ years, who received active treatment within the past year and resided in PR, completed an online survey. Accessing cancer treatment was defined as self-reported difficulties to initiate or continue cancer treatment. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Contingency tables were generated to assess the relationship of access to cancer treatment and selected characteristics using the Chi-Square test. RESULTS: As of May 16, 2024, a total of 318 participants were eligible and completed the online survey. Most of the participants were women (71.1%), unemployed (68.6%), lived in urban/suburban areas (69.6%), and have multimorbidity (72.3%). The mean age was 58.8±12.6 years. Approximately 30.5% of the participants experienced at least one barrier to accessing cancer treatment, with the most common barriers including health insurance problems (43.3%), lack of communication with healthcare providers (20.6%), and financial problems (24.7%). Barriers to accessing cancer treatment were more likely to occur among women (34.5% vs.20.6%; p=0.02), and those with multimorbidity (33.9% vs.21.6%; p=0.03) than among their counterparts. Furthermore, barriers to accessing cancer treatment were observed mainly among those with lower cancer stages (localized:28.4%, regional:42.9%, distant:22.6%; p<0.05). CONCLUSION: In PR, cancer patients facing challenges in accessing treatment are primarily affected by health insurance problems, lack of communication, and financial issues, which underscores the need for comprehensive support. Further studies should evaluate the experiences of cancer patients when seeking treatment and develop targeted cancer care plans to address these specific concerns effectively. IRB: This project was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center (IRB # 2023-11-123). Citation Format: Lorena González-Sepúlveda, Sofía Contreras-Fernández, Karina Torres-Mojica, Rocío Del Mar Avilés-Mercado, Juan Paulo González-Mayoral, Nancy Cardona-Cordero, Marievelisse Soto-Salgado. Barriers to cancer care access in Puerto Rico: Exploring clinical and sociodemographic disparities [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr A101.